On 2007-06-29 18:16:17 +0100, ":Jerry:" said:

But then niether of you are what most would call 'the average DIYer',
if the average DIYer only bought "the best" places like B&Q would not
offer lines that don't sell, but what do we find stocked - plenty of
cheap (some would say) crap but the more expencive (and some would
say) better tools are noticeable by their absence - go into a true
trade outlet and the opposite is the case...

Who is the "average DIYer" though?



My point is, people buy the best tool for what they will be *doing*,
not simply the tool with the best build quality.

I think that most people who frequent places like B&Q for everything
just buy the cheapest thing because they don't know any better.

Actually, the B&Q warehouse in Reading has quite a range of
professional tools as well - Bosch blue, Makita, Metabo, DeWalt.


There is little point
in someone who is only ever going to put up the odd shelf in buying a
DaWalt drill, OTOH their is little point in someone who is
(re)building their own house buying a 19.99 ukp own brand special. The
problems occurs when people buy on price rather than on what the tool
will be asked to do,

Exactly.



on the one hand they have expensive tools that
get under used and last until the cows come home (no real problem with
that, assuming that they haven't mortgaged the kids to buy the
tools...), but on the other hand we get people buying the cheapest and
then knackering the tool within a couple of months after having used
them constantly 12+ hrs a day - it's these people who then claim that
the tool is crap and should never be on sale!

Also true.



As for the OP's problem, I've known 20k motor cars that have had a
failed bearing within the warranty period, faulty bearings can be
installed in anything - sounds to me that it missed the lubrication
prior to being sealed...

Engineered and manufactured to a price rather than a level of quality.